The Call Movie Review - Dial M For Murder

Based on the 2011 film The Caller, this Lee Chung-hyun thriller reduces the distance with the past to a ring away.

A dolly shot in this Lee Chung-hyun thriller sets the foundation of perspective for The Call. The camera moves towards a character as he/she walks towards it and then seamlessly moves behind the subject retracting from it. The forward dolly switches to the backward dolly. You think we are closing in on the person, but we move away. This is important because further into the film, some developments (like an abusive mother) will box you in a predefined mindset. The Call will feed your notions and then pull away from its set-up.

Opening with Kim Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) in a wide shot revealing unpopulated tract, The Call establishes the low impact of the imminent events on the rest of the sentient beings. Only a few (two) people matter, and only they would experience the change.

It all starts with a mysterious phone ring that seems like a distress call. The caller - a girl - expects someone named Sun-hee to be on the receiver's end. "Sun-hee! I think Mom's trying to kill me." She faces disappointment, for now, as Kim Seo-yeon is no Sun-hee. Killer mother or not, she hangs up thinking it a prank or a wrong number. Obviously, the phone rings again, but this time, courtesy of the basement and Kim Seo-yeon's deductions, it is concluded that the caller, Oh Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), is dialing from the past (1999). I almost chuckled when Kim Seo-yeon casually makes this point. It's like this is not a big deal for her. The Call stays away from that OMG! drama commonly found in these situations. It is not every day you get a call from the past, do you? The movie does not build to this moment or underlines it in bold. We arrive at this point within the first fifteen minutes.

In Gregory Hoblit's sci-fi Frequency (2000), a son uses radio to communicate with his dead father across time. Hoblit used the occurrence of aurora borealis as a backdrop to yield the conversation between the father and the son. In contrast, Lee Chung-hyun does not bother with any scientific mumbo jumbo. Hence, don't expect answers to questions such as (1) How can the present Kim Seo-yeon retain the memory of the explosion after its prevention? (2) Shouldn't there be another Kim Seo-yeon? If you are a science-geek, don't put your head on the butterfly effect. At most, the changes in the timeline are reflected by stylish, well-executed CGI shots. If someone is having dinner with three friends and if one of them is killed, then the dinner will continue as planned with the exception of that one friend. RIP to him.

When Kim enlightens Young-sook on technological advancements through the years (internet, mobiles, computers), there is innocence in their voice. Sweetness engulfs the two girls as if one has found true friendship in the other. Given Young-sook's complaints about her tyrant mother, this newly found companionship sparkles with warmth. Both women detached from family, finding solace in each other's words, what could go wrong? Even when, for a moment, the camera shows traces of wickedness as Young-sook offers to save Kim Seo-yeon's father, you don't take the sign too seriously. What could go wrong? I comforted myself again. Perhaps, I didn't want anything to go wrong. But things go wrong. They have to. Messing with the natural course of action has never brought peace to any fictional being. Any disaster begins with minor mistakes. It starts with a finger and then reaches for the hand. Once in the zone, The Call unleashes a gripping minacious game that remains a leap away from turning into a murderous affair.

Park Shin-hye and Jeon Jong-seo get under the skin of their roles. You see the transformation of a civil and composed Kim Seo-yeon to an infuriated hot-head dropping F- and B-bombs. Jeon Jong-seo (Burning) effectively toys with your expectations. For a time, I didn't know whether to be in her favor or not. Jong-seo indeed is a formidable presence. One can easily be fooled by her external appearance and can later be bitten from behind.

Most impressive is the writing, which subverts expectations without being cheap. That abusive mother trope is nicely played. If only The Call had fleshed out the emotions it was going for, the beats would have been more in sync. I responded to the scene where a mother and daughter meet, but it was more because of the excellent performances and not the plot. I had no solid emotional thread to hold on to. We know Kim Seo-yeon hates her mother because it is told to us (too many times if you ask me). The ending is a downer, sacrificing storytelling and reaching for an unnecessary sequel. Still, as a whole, The Call is worth answering.

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